Sacramento Regional Transit's draft TransitRenewal 2012-2017 Sevice Implementation for TransitAction has been added to the Research Center best practices database. The document aims to position the transit district's network to sustainably meet future transit demand within its service area.

The New Starts Working Group led by Reconnecting America Board Member Jeff Boothe of Holland and Knight has put together a nifty chart showing the share of riders that take transit to sporting events in some major cities. While not all cities and transit agencies are represented, it's a nifty snapshot of how transit is an important part of a multi-modal strategy for getting people to the game. Not surprising to anyone who has been to a Timbers game and seen the madness, Jeld-Wen Field in the heart of downtown Portland boasts a 40% mode share. I'm sure the folks in Seattle will be looking for ways to better that next season.

Jarrett Walker discusses what he believes is the biggest communications failure of public discussions about transit. Frequency. At CNU in Madison, Walker discusses the lack of discussion on this important subject.

This has been the month of employment and transit! This morning the Brookings Institute held an event to release their report about transit connections to employment; an in depth report on the state of access in the United States. Additionally, the Center for TOD released two papers on the subject of Employment Centers and TOD and the Transit Space Race 2011 report that was released last month documenting new transit lines and the additional jobs and low income residents they would serve.

Today the Center for Transit-Oriented Development released two papers on employment centers and thier relationship to transit. We'll cover the second paper on industries that locate near transit later. For now, let's focus on the first paper, "Transit-Oriented Development & Employment"

In 2008, the Bay Area Rapid Transit District hired the San Francisco firm of Corey, Canapary & Galanis Research to perform a comprehensive survey of BART station users. The analysis and interpretation of the by BART’s Marketing and Research Department and Corey, Canapary & Galanis has been added to the Best Practices.

"2008 BART Station Profile Study" provides a snapshot of weekday customers at each BART station and for the overall system. The main purposes of this study was to better understand how customers use and access BART, to track changes that have occurred since the last study in 1998, and to anticipate customers’ future requirements. The 2008 Station Profile Study marks the 13th such study conducted by BART.

Among the general themes found in the study:
The majority of weekday BART trips are destined for home or work, and specific trip destinations vary by time…

Making transit a viable tool for getting people out of their cars and thus lowering our collective carbon footprint requires making transit use attractive. Internet apps that provide bus and train schedules are incredibly valuable in this regard.
Surprisingly, most transit agencies are hesitant to make their schedule data available to application developers using a standard format and license.
The problem has prompted Front Seat, the developers of WalkScore, to create a new website, City-Go-Round.
City-Go-Round serves a dual purpose. First, it's a central location where you can search for mobile apps that turn your Internet-enabled phone into transit map and schedule book. More important, City-Go-Round hopes to rally support for making more transit data open…

My South End
While to some it was a symbol of blight--they bitterly complained about rusty bolts falling on their heads--to me it was a symbol of freedom: freedom to go where I wanted to when I wanted to, freedom to live where I lived and still feel like a citizen of Boston, connected to the city as a whole, instead of a native of the outback, clutching a bus pass. ...
Read On

The Environment America Research and Policy Center released a report this month detailing the relationship between transportation and America's oil dependence. "Getting On Track: Record Transit Ridership Increases Energy Independence" was written by Rob McCulloch, Philip Faustmann and Jessica Darmawan of the Environment America Research and Policy Center and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Surdna Foundation.

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The Half-Mile Circles blog is a place to share information about recent research, innovations and other issues related to TOD and livable communities. We also invite experts to talk about their work. Combined with Jeff Wood's The Other Side of the Tracks, the Half-Mile Circles blog is an opportunity for a daily dose of TOD, and allows you to weigh in with your own opinions. Usual blog rules apply; please keep the comment threads civil. To submit an expert article, contact Jeff Wood